Daddy's Little Girl
by queenofomega
Summary: Three dead girls. Two cases are unknowingly related. Two of the team are abducted. One psychotic killer. One race against time. SMacked, Dantana. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY. If I did, I could afford that iPod Touch I want.**

**Author's Note: I'm back and with a story for you CSI: NY fans! I have a whole plot, and I'm not abandoning this until... wait- can't give anything away. Now read away!  
**

_"Would you for once just let someone in and stop being so damn stubborn?"_

He didn't want those to be some of the last words ever spoken to the woman he loved. Please, Stella, please be all right, he thought, running a hand through freshly trimmed dark hair. Their latest argument from a few days previously was fresh in his mind. Even though they were on speaking terms, nothing was quite the same.

It seemed as though time had purposely slowed down for Mac Taylor as he sat in the passenger side seat of Lindsay's jeep, the young woman driving as fast as she could. She followed the police cars with their blaring sirens, eyes not straying from the road, lips pursed in a thin, stressed line. Mac had plenty of time to think, and all that came to his mind was what would he do without her?

Even though he tried not to think of the worst, Mac Taylor would never be able to survive without Stella Bonasera.

Beside him, Lindsay Monroe's eyes never left the flashing lights in front of her. They guided her like a beacon, a beacon that would soon lead them to Danny. Butterflies didn't flutter in her stomach; it was as if they were viciously attacking it. Lindsay felt as though she would puke if their lead was a dead end, but she kept driving to keep herself from breaking down, and from Mac punching a hole through the windshield. She saw his knuckles getting whiter by the second.

At times like these, Lindsay needed Danny Messer.

Both Mac and Lindsay hoped that they'd be able to see their friends again by the end of the night. Under the bright stars, probably a cheerful sight to anyone else and unusual in the lit up city, they raced against time to find their friends. But inwardly, Mac and Lindsay knew that they would never be able to look at the stars the same way again if they couldn't find Stella and Danny.

**CSI: NY**

_24 hours earlier… 9:45pm, NYC Crime Lab_

"We have an issue," Mac muttered, as Stella walked into Macs office, clutching a stuffed folder, filled with the latest additions to her just-solved case information. She put it down beside a large cardboard box on his desk, and opened it, beginning to check to make sure all evidence was accounted for.

"Hmm?"

Mac let out a frustrated sigh and furiously hit the spacebar on his computer.

"The system has been acting up all day. Now my computer won't even wake up."

He abandoned it, and instead watched Stella, methodically taking out each piece of evidence, checking her list, and replacing it before moving onto the next one. A stray curl fell into her face, but she didn't notice, absorbed in her work. Mac was tempted to reach over and push it behind her ear, but did not do so. But he squirmed inside. He didn't want to let his work life and personal life collide, but with Stella in the room, it was so hard not to let that happen

Stella eventually looked up, probably noticing Macs gaze in the side of her head, and held up the case file. She pointed to something on the now complete evidence list.

"Have you seen that hairbrush that was collected at the crime scene for DNA?"

Stella looked as puzzled as Mac felt.

"I could've sworn I had just picked it up from Adam."

Mac raised an eyebrow. Stella never lost evidence- ever. And he had seen it in her hand, less than an hour ago, as he had been walking past the DNA lab, where Adam was finishing up with a bunch of things and handing back evidence to CSIs. Sadly, it was a slow day for the lab techs. Mac felt a little bad for the overworked lab tech, though Adam never complained, even with the constant threat of being laid off. He shook his head and focused on the topic on hand.

"Could you have dropped it?" Mac asked, though he knew the answer.

"No."

Stella frowned but picked up her folder and box. She carefully balanced one on top of the other and headed for the door.

"I'll go check for it, I guess."

Mac gave her a small smile and pushed away his worry. How much trouble could one hairbrush cause? Little did he know, that he was horribly wrong when he thought _none_.

**CSI: NY**

Danny packed the remainder of evidence into the cardboard box that had been thrown at him by Adam. He had thrown as much at other people who weren't busy, like Danny, as he could. The lab techs were short-staffed that day. It was also Lindsay's day off, and Danny wished that he had asked to have the day off as well. No stressed Adam chasing after him like a rampaging bee ready to sting anything in its way, plus he was missing his beloved Montana.

Danny knew he loved her; that was for sure. But he was often afraid to admit it, nervous about being able to be loyal to her, was his guess. But she was special. He had never met another woman like her.

"Boom," he muttered, picking up an empty plastic evidence bag. "What have we got here?"

The seal was torn, and the label was scribbled over. Obviously someone, if they had been trying to hide what had been in the bag, had done a messy job. Underneath, the words Erica Jones' Nightgown was still legibly scribbled there. The nightgown was gone. Danny remembered the soft blue fabric, with the ornate white flowers stitched on it. He remembered the low dip the v-neck collar made, and how there were three buttons down the front. The top one had been undone. Occasionally he remembered the smallest details. He remembered how the nightgown had been totally useless in aiding them in the search for Erica Jones' killer. He also remembered that he had thought at the time Lindsay has one just like this…

"Messer?"

Danny jerked his head up to see Sheldon Hawkes and Stella coming up behind him. He nodded to them then gestured to the empty evidence bag.

"Either of you see a nightgown lyin' around from the Erica Jones case?"

Both shook their heads, and Danny let out a small huff of frustration. Mac would have his hide for losing a piece of evidence.

"Wait, you lost evidence too?"

Stella had picked up the bag, and was inspecting its label. She flipped the bag over in her hands, looking at it from all angles. She set it down again after a minute of silence and looked back at Danny and a confused looking Hawkes.

"Anyone care to fill me in…?"

Stella began to explain what she had told Mac earlier. Danny was relieved to know that Mac hadn't gotten mad at Stella for losing anything but then again- this was Stella. He knew his boss favoured the beautiful Greek detective. He, on the other hand, was neither Greek nor beautiful… well, maybe not the last one. Danny liked to think of himself as attractive. Mac would be mad at him.

One thing between his story and Stella's didn't match up. His evidence had been taken, and someone had tried to hide what had been in the bag.

"Maybe you just dropped yours?"

"Maybe someone just moved the nightgown to a new bag and scratched that one out so you'd know not to use it?" Stella countered. Danny frowned. It wasn't likely. There was no reason to switch bags for the nightgown. Stella shrugged.

"Nothin' too important. Mac or Sinclair may just get a little pissed off. Anyway, Hawkes, Stel, you came here for something else?"

Danny quickly finished up with the evidence as Hawkes and Stella filled him in on a new case.

"22 year old, female, of Irish decent, found by a couple in a park near some old house out west. You along for the ride?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem," Danny answered. He flagged down a younger CSI and passed her the evidence box, giving her strict instructions of where to go and sign it in. She nodded and rushed off.

"Who's drivin'?" Danny asked, as they headed for the elevator. Stella held up her car keys, and Hawkes laughed. Danny groaned.

"But you never let us stop for those amazin' hot dogs on 3rd street!"

Hawkes pushed himself between the two.

"_I'll _drive and coffee's on me…"

**Author's Note: Plenty of Dantana and SMacked for you fans out there to come! Next chapter is already written and I'll upload it tomorrow considering this is all boring filler. But missing evidence? What could that mean? The system dying? Also, there's another minor thing mentioned in this chapter that will be highly significant in the next one. I wonder who will guess correctly?**

**Hugs,**

**Lim  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it. Wish I did.**

**Author's Note: Okay, posted really soon, but just because the first chapter wasn't really all too interesting. Still want to know what you guys had thought in the first chapter, even though it's revealed here!**

_11:00pm, in the middle of nowhere_

"Does anyone actually live here?" Danny asked, looking around the desolate yard and park. Actually, the park was part of the yard, or vice versa. The wind blew, chilly and crisp, though it was supposed to be a warm summer's night. Danny grabbed a flashlight from Stella's truck.

"No one's supposed to," Hawkes answered, grabbing his own flashlight and two kits. One had been the one Stella was reaching out for, but Hawkes had snatched it right out from under her hand. Danny could barely see her in the dim light from his flashlight (_Does anyone ever change the batteries_?) but he saw her flash Hawkes a surprised but mischievous glare. He snorted. Apparently Hawkes felt like being a gentleman tonight.

"Hey, is someone else supposed to already be here? Can't be too much traffic this late out this far," Danny mentioned, glancing around while Stella tried to get her kit back from Hawkes, who was playfully holding it away from her. Danny stepped in between them, and snapped his fingers.

"Yo, children, did you hear me?"

Stella and Hawkes stepped apart, Hawkes smirking, Stella scowling (though not seriously). They both took a look around. Stella turned on her flashlight and swung the beam of light around. Since the cup of coffee, as promised by Hawkes, she was a lot more alert and awake. She didn't notice anything suspicious.

"Let's just take a look around outside. We'll wait out here until someone joins us." She looked up at the full moon above them. "It's not too dark. There's no point in wasting time."

Danny nodded, and Hawkes hesitantly passed Stella's kit to her. Together they set off across the long grass and into the yard.

The tall, old house, crumbling and looking as though it wanted to just sink to the ground but had to stay up for long enough for the detectives to bring justice to its old owner, loomed over them. It cast a long shadow over the grass. Stella shivered as she stepped through the grass in her heels. It was a creepy feeling. The full moon, the old rickety house, a dead body in the house… not that she was superstitious, but it was under odd circumstances. Danny and Hawkes had separated, and all three CSIs had gone in their different directions. Stella jumped as something jumped through the grass. Her flashlight followed it, a small brown rabbit running away. She was about to take a step forward when…

A shout echoed through the air. Stella tumbled and rolled through the dirt and grass, down a hill she hadn't noticed. She felt her ankle snap as one of her heels caught on a root that had grown above ground. She cried out again.

Not far away, Hawkes and Danny, who had both been investigating a couple sets of footprints, looked up toward the source of the noise. Hawkes swiftly moved from his knees to his feet, and moved the light around, looking for the fallen detective.

"Stella? Stella?"

"Hawkes, stay here, I'll go find her."

Hawkes looked up at Danny.

"You sure?"

Danny grinned.

"I'm not the one who's goin' to be on my own. I should be askin' you that."

Hawkes grinned and slapped Danny's shoulder, then Danny ran off toward where he thought Stella was. Then he realized he left his flashlight on the ground with Hawkes. Aw crap. He called out to Stella, looking for the light from her flashlight:

"Stel? Say somethin', anythin', just let me follow your voice!"

He looked around but her flashlight must have broken when she fell, Danny concluded. A weak voice called out his name, and Danny took off running toward it.

"Stel? Keep talkin', Stel, I'm comin'!"

He found her lying on the ground by a wooden cellar door at the back of the house. She looked physically okay, just shaken up and a little surprised. Then he saw her ankle, useless and lying at an odd angle.

"I never understood why you women always have to wear those heels…"

Danny put one arm around her waist, and Stella wrapped hers around his neck. He pulled her up from the ground, and cautiously pulled the strap from her tank top back up to her shoulder. He felt awkward, touching any woman other than Lindsay in such a caring manner. But Danny held Stella up and started leading her up the hill. She hadn't said a word.

Beside the house, blocking the moonlight, it was too dark to know where he was going. Danny put out his free hand and felt for the side of the house. It took a couple of moments before his hand brushed up against something solid and brick. He let out a happy shout.

"Okay, hang on, Stel, we'll be back to the truck in a minute."

She remained silent. Danny quickly called out as loud as he could, unable to judge how far away Hawkes was:

"We're on our way back! Stella's fine but she broke her ankle! Give us a minute!"

Danny faintly heard Hawkes call back, acknowledging them. Apparently they were farther than he thought. He continued up the hill.

If Danny thought Stella was quiet because of shock, he was wrong. She was silently trying to take in what she had seen. As she fell, Stella had seen a dark figured dashing past her. She wasn't sure he (judging by size and height) had seen her, but he had definitely given her a good kick in the cheek. That would leave a nice bruise in the morning. But she had watched him walk away from her and he had come somewhere up…

"Danny!" Stella hissed, grounding her good foot into the dirt, forcing him to stop.

"Yeah?"

"When I was down there, I saw a man. He came up here, I was watching, but then he disappeared. And if you look closely, there's a door here. Our killer may still be here!"

Danny's eyes widened and opened his mouth to call out to Hawkes but Stella slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Do you want him to hear us? We need to go in there and get him!"

"Stel," Danny whispered, "we can't just go in there, no light, to protection, no back up!"

"But we could totally skip an investigation and catch our guy!" Stella pleaded. Suddenly, after her fall, the energy after her coffee seemed to have gone. She didn't want to solve this crime, she just wanted to go home and sleep.

Danny looked down at the woman leaning off of him. Stella looked exhausted. Just like he often wondered with Mac, when was the last time she had slept? Even though she always reminded Mac to sleep, she was just as stubborn. And the Mandy Raymont case had really gotten to her… Danny sighed.

"I can't just leave you."

"I'll be fine. I'll wait out here."

Now Danny began to worry. Stella must have really wanted this, because she was never content to just sit and wait. He set her down beside the door gently and pushed a curl away from her face.

"I'll be back soon, okay?"

Stella, nodded, and Danny opened the door, pulling out his gun. This was stupid and dangerous, and there in the dark, with no source of light, Danny was regretting taking those first couple steps into the house. But he couldn't back out now. Something was wrong with Stella, and the sooner he caught this creep, the sooner he could get back to her. The sooner he could get her back to the lab and Mac. Then he could go and tell the whole night's story to Lindsay. Thinking of Lindsay calmed his racing heart, and Danny kept moving.

His footsteps were louder than he would have liked them to be, and the old, moldy floorboards squeaked under his weight. Without light, it was hard to see, and he knew he shouldn't have come in. But now that he was in, he'd do what he had come to do. That's when he saw the shadow. How he saw it, he wasn't sure, but he followed it, gun held in front of him. The shadow led him into a sunroom, all its furniture covered in white cloth that shimmered in the oddly bright moonlight. Danny always got 'creeped' out this far from the city; too eerie at night for him.

"Not the one I want, but I'll go back for her after I deal with you."

Danny spun around, but his gun got pulled from his hands. Somehow his shadow had ended up behind him and painfully smashed him over the head with his own gun.

With Danny lying at his feet, the 'shadow' poured a liquid onto a cloth and then started dragging Danny with him back to the door.

**CSI: NY**

Stella leaned against the hard bricks. Her ankle had stopped throbbing, and now she couldn't really feel it. Her head felt heavy, and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. She wasn't sure what was wrong with her. When they had gotten here, she had been fine, energized and ready to work. Now she felt like there was lead weighing her eyelids down.

She couldn't understand why she had told Danny to go in that house. If she could walk, maybe she would go herself… no! She couldn't think like that. She would never go into a house with a possible killer inside without back up. She was having difficulty holding up her head. It felt as though it weighed a thousand pounds.

"Stay awake, Bonasera…"

Her cell phone started ringing in her jeans pocket, but she couldn't muster up enough energy to grab it. The familiar ring tone told her that Mac was calling her… Mac… Her eyes fluttered closed, after she couldn't keep them open for any longer.

"Well, well, sweetheart, I see that drugging your coffee did the job."

Stella forced her eyes open. The man she saw before was crouching in front of her, smiling warmly at her. He didn't look threatening at all… until she saw Danny lying unconscious next to him. Her eyes widened a little and she struggled to get up. The man laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Now don't try to run, sweetie, it's okay. You and your friend are hurt, and I'll help. Just let me help you," he murmured and held the wet cloth up to her face, smothering Stella with it as she struggled to escape. Finally, the blackness caught up with her, and the effects of chloroform took effect.

"See, not so bad, was it?" the man whispered. He lifted Stella up into his arms and over his shoulder, minding her broken ankle. He grabbed the collar of Danny's shirt and dragged him along back down the hill, toward his car. He didn't like having the extra weight, but he figured he should bring the boy with them.

Down at his car, he gently secured Stella into the passenger seat. He didn't expect her to be awake for some time. He roughly tossed Danny into the back seat. Just to be safe, he picked up some rope off the floor of the car and bound his wrists with it.

He got into the driver's seat and got the car started. He ran a hand through Stella's hair once, and then drove off.

**CSI: NY**

Sheldon Hawkes was getting worried. No one had come yet to join them at the scene, and it had been a whole ten minutes since Danny called out to tell him that he had found Stella. Hawkes now sat in the truck, waiting for his friends to come back.

The silence was deafening, though Hawkes had never really understood that saying until now. There was enough silence to let his thoughts deafen him from the inside. And all his thoughts were of the worst. He tried to force himself to stop thinking that way.

Suddenly, a single sound broke the silence: the sound of a car starting and driving away. Maybe one of the neighbours… but then Hawkes remembered, they were in the middle of nowhere. He was just about to start the truck and go after the car when his cell phone rang.

"Hawkes."

"Sheldon, good. I just tried calling Stella and Danny, but I can't get a hold of them. Are you with them?"

Sheldon frowned.

"I was…"

**Author's Note: Dun dun dun DUN! Much more interesting, I hope. The way I imagined this place was that there was a cliff right beside the park and the house. More soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it. Don't make me keep admitting this, 'cause then reality sinks in. :P**

**Author's Note: A little bit of Danny/Stella in this chapter, but don't worry, they're just friends. Originally, this chapter was going to be mostly in the lab, but I thought I'd add some more suspense for you guys. Plus I'm just evil.  
**

_11:45pm, in a car, somewhere_

Danny groaned and groggily lifted his head. Sleep was calling to him, singing to him in a light melody that tempted him into the world of dreams… and nightmares. Danny bit the inside of his cheek to keep his concentration. He tasted blood but ignored it. He looked around the leather interior of the car.

Danny had the perfect view of the passenger's seat. Stella was slumped against the window, wild hair almost obscuring her face. The inside of the car was stifling, and Danny could see beads of sweat forming on Stella's forehead. Only then could he see the giant boot shaped bruise on her cheek. Danny was guessing that he'd find a similar one under his hair soon, but gun shaped. _God, this guy keeps it hot in here…_

The man either didn't care or hadn't noticed that Danny was awake. If it was the latter, Danny felt lucky. The ropes on his wrists were loose, and the man tied a horrible knot. The odds were in his favour. Hard, dark green eyes were focused on the road, as Danny could see in the rear-view mirror. From the muttering he could hear in the front seat, the man was obviously too busy talking to himself to notice much. Danny grinned and his favourite saying escaped from his lips, barely even a whisper:

"Boom."

And then he lurched forward, freeing his hands as he did so. Even in the confined space, Danny managed to position himself so that he clobbered the man over the head. The one flaw in his plan: who was going to drive the car as the man flailed and tried to protect himself? Of course: no one. The car swerved and jerked, but Danny threw punch after punch, trying to hit his dodging target.

"If you get my partner killed, I'll kill you. So just stay still already," he hissed, cursing and swearing under his breath. Finally, Danny landed a punch just left of the man's temple.

Then the car crashed.

**CSI: NY**

"You were? What do you mean Sheldon?"

Mac paced in his office, not knowing what else to do or ask. He had phoned Stella and Danny three times each, but after awhile, Danny's phone had been turned off, and so had Stella's soon after. This was Mac's fourth time asking Hawkes the same question.

"Mac, I told you, Stella fell, Danny went to go get her and then they didn't come back. The only thing I heard was Stella scream when she fell and a car driving away later."

Mac heard a distressed sigh on Hawkes' end of the line. He paced some more.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm just worried. We have nothing to go on, not until morning. Where are you?"

Mac listened as Hawkes explained how he was driving around the area, in search of the missing CSIs. The former ME sounded incredibly worried. So was Mac. Stella and Danny out of everyone to go missing. At least they could take care of themselves. But Mac was pained to hear that Stella had broken her ankle. He didn't like thinking that she could be in pa- _no, focus, Taylor._

Hawkes kept filling Mac in on anything he had even thought of in the last few seconds. Talking to Hawkes was as close as Mac could get to his missing colleagues. He sighed. Soon he would have to call Lindsay in.

**CSI: NY**

Don Flack's car finally found Hawkes'. Almost forty-five minutes later, he had caught up with the ME. He stuck his head out of the window and asked Hawkes, who was on the phone:

"Which way have you not gone?"

Hawkes nodded his head to the right, where the road forked. Flack nodded and stepped on the gas pedal. Mac had called him almost immediately after he had heard the news. For NYPD, this was top priority. But until Mac could get out and meet Hawkes with Lindsay, they had nothing to work on.

"Search party it is," Flack said out loud, "though there's nothin' fun about this party."

Flack tried to keep his emotions in check, but when he was personally involved, it got to him. He hated seeing friends in danger. It was the worst part of the job. He had kept Angell back at the station in case they turned up there. Truthfully, he just wanted to make sure she was safe. His job was, after all, to Protect and Serve. He kept driving.

His headlights did not provide a very wide area of vision on the wide country roads. Plus, the gravel was getting stuck in his tires, making the ride bumpy and uncomfortable. But then he saw it: a wrecked car, driven straight into a tree. Flack pulled up alongside the road and pulled his gun from its holster. With his other arm, he supported his gun hand and held a flashlight. When he knew he was prepared, he ran as fast as he could to the wreckage.

There was blood all over, though Flack had no idea whose it was. He made his way around the banged up car, checking every nook and cranny possible. He also searched around the car. No one was there. But he saw something attached the passenger side door:

A lock of curly hair- ripped off its owner's head by the look of it. And it was dark brown. Flack let out a strangled gasp and grabbed it.

"They've been here."

Then he dialed Mac.

**CSI: NY**

"Stella's hair? Are you sure? Yes? Great, Flack, thanks. They can't have gotten far. Call Hawkes and let him know."

Mac let out a sigh of relief. The original crime scene was secure until the morning, and their crime scene on wheels was apparently on wheels no more. They hadn't found Danny and Stella, but they had something to work on.

Mac phoned Lindsay, making it brief. He told her that he would come and pick her up and explain on the way.

Mac thanked God that there was a chance that Danny and Stella were safe.

**CSI: NY**

_Five minutes earlier…_

Danny coughed and spit dust and blood out of his mouth. Great, he had run them into a tree. He weakly raised his head, and found himself hanging from the driver's seatbelt. Not far away, he saw the man sprawled out on the ground. He showed no signs of stirring, and Danny did not really feel like going to see if the son of a… Stella!

He saw her far from the man in a crumpled heap on the ground. Broken glass glittered around her. Danny struggled to remove himself from the car. He shouted and called out to her. To his relief, the normal stubborn Stella called back to him.

"Nice going, you idiot."

Danny grinned and let out a whoop of joy. With newfound strength, Danny managed to untangle himself and dropped lightly to the ground. He scrambled over to Stella's side, and rolled onto his back, avoiding the glass. He was laughing madly.

"Who knew I'd ever get us driven into a tree! I kicked some ass back there!"

Stella let out a small laugh too. There was something comical about the whole situation. Plus, they had made it out alive. There was a bonus.

"We should go," Danny said, raising himself up, supporting his midsection with his elbow. He shook off a pain in his hand and stood. He leaned over and picked Stella up, not forgetting about her inability to walk.

"Where to?" he asked.

"Anywhere that's away from that creep."

So Danny started walking. He had no idea which direction he was going in, but it didn't matter. He wanted to get far away. And they needed a phone… The man had thrown both of theirs out of the car window.

"Hey, Stel, you're a mess, y'know?"

And she really was. Broken glass, dirt and other stuff was matted into her curls, and her face and arms were dirty and bloody. But Stella just laughed, readjusting her arms around Danny's neck into a more comfortable position.

"You should see yourself."

Little did they know that a certain kidnapper had managed to get up and was following them from a distance.

**Author's Note: Please don't kill me! They're alive! I couldn't kill anyone this early in the story! Cookies for reviewers! You know you want to!**

**Hugs,**

**Lim  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: It pains me to write this...**

**Author's Note: Short filler chapter. More comes next. Thanks to Lonnie and A maze thing. Your comments made me smile and made my day.  
**

_1:00am, somewhere in NY_

"Aw shit, how long have we been walkin'?" Danny muttered. His feet were becoming sore, and he had long since had to put Stella down and support her rather than carry her because his arms had fallen asleep. Danny, reckless and quick-thinking Danny, was getting nervous. He felt as though they weren't totally out of the jaws of the beast yet.

They had been walking in what Danny assumed was a straight line for ages. Danny wanted to find a phone, let Mac and Lindsay and Hawkes know they were okay. Danny also wanted to find a hospital. Stella needed to see a doctor and Danny had noticed he had a fairly nasty looking cut on his arm that he wanted to get checked out. Danny huffed a little but kept pushing on.

"And where the hell are we?"

Danny was basically talking to himself, but it kept him from worrying or falling asleep. He'd been up a couple days straight now from working so many cases. He stifled a yawn and tripped. Stella looked up at him, looking as drowsy as he probably did.

"Danny, we can stop," she said, speaking for the first time in awhile.

"I'm not lettin' that creep find us," he rasped, voice sounding almost like a growl, "and I didn't check to see if he was dead or alive."

Stella again rooted her good foot into the dirt, forcing Danny to stop.

"And he'll find us if you end up passing out from exhaustion."

Stella looked around, scanning the darkness for a sign of somewhere to stop. The moon had moved, and the light splayed in different directions now. Creeping shadows licked at Stella's heels, making her shiver. It reminded her of a horror movie she had gone to see with Frankie once- the rampaging killer stalking the girl in the middle of the night, who of course had nowhere to go. Sometimes reality got a little too close to fiction… or was the fiction based off of reality? At least it seemed warmer outside.

Then she saw it, a small glow in the distance. Stella could just barely make out the shape of a neon sign and the words 'Leigh's Gas Bar' on it. She let out a breath of relief that she hadn't known she was holding. She nudged Danny with her elbow and pointed. He nodded in the dark. Danny, arms awake again, picked up Stella again, knowing they could move faster like that.

**CSI: NY**

As soon as they could, Mac and Lindsay got to the old house where Stella and Danny had gone missing. Hawkes stood in the tall grass, flashlight in hand. He looked relieved at the sight of the police cars and Lindsay's Jeep. He came jogging over to meet them.

"I've been waiting for you so I could go inside. They could be in there for all we know but I thought…"

Mac cut him off by nodding. He swung the beam of light from his flashlight around the area. Nothing looked the least bit disturbed. Mac pushed back the sense of foreboding that he felt as he took a good look at the house. Danny and Stella could be in there. But if they were, why hadn't they come out by now? He didn't like the possible answer to that.

"Someone secure the perimeter!" Mac shouted, and a couple cops rushed off, flashlights and guns at the ready. The sound of a car pulling up behind them caused Mac to turn. Flack jumped out of his cruiser and came to join them.

"I've got a couple guys out securin' the car. Some of your guys from the swing shift are out there processin'. I know they were there, Mac, no need for you scientists to tell me that."

Mac nodded.

"I know, Don, but they're just doing their job. We'll go out there next if we don't find anything here. If we do, we'll need those other CSIs' help."

Flack restlessly shifted his weight from one foot to the other as they waited to hear if they could go in. When a cop finally called out, the three men and Lindsay jumped.

"It's all clear! No one's inside!"

Mac let out a sigh of relief and from Lindsay, one of frustration. The sighs were obviously for different reasons. If they had still been in that house now without coming out, Mac concluded, they'd most likely be dead. They didn't want that. At least there was now a chance of them being okay somewhere. Lindsay just wanted them to be here and safe, to save them all from the suspense and terror of the situation. Mac watched Lindsay out of the corner of his eye as they made their way toward the house. Flack was with them, having no witnesses to question.

Mac knew Lindsay loved Danny. It was obvious, and everyone knew. He knew that she would be prepared to do anything to get him back right now. _Just like me for Stella…_

Mac didn't know where that thought had come from. It just kind of slipped into his mind while he wasn't paying attention, and gave him a good jolt of shock. Was that how he felt for Stella? Surely it was not. They were partners, colleagues. They were friends… _You're in deniaaaal!_ his mind sung. Mac focused on glaring at the grass and soon concrete as they made their way up the old cracking steps that led into the house.

The sight that met them was a mess.

Old, broken furniture was strewn and scattered everywhere. Cobwebs coated everything with a thick layer of dust and grime. Mac could hear the scurrying of mice and bugs over his head. He was disgusted.

"We got a call saying there was a body here…"

Mac turned to look at Hawkes.

"You never did mention why you were out here. Do you know the number? We could trace it."

Hawkes shook his head.

"It was a text to Danny's phone. It would be with him," he explained solemnly.

Mac's shoulders slumped and Lindsay kicked an old cabinet, causing it to collapse and send dust everywhere. The coughing fits ensued. When they finally subsided, Flack pulled two cells out of his jacket pocket.

"You mean these? I found them dumped on the side of the road."

They were Stella's and Danny's. Lindsay beamed. Sure, they had no way of contacting them, but now they had a lead.

**CSI: NY**

The owner of the 24/7-gas bar looked shocked to see the pair come into his place. They were definitely a sight, looking as though they had just barely escaped death. Little did the owner know that that was not too far from the truth.

The man set the woman down next to one of the rows of snacks that people liked to buy on long road trips. The owner was confused, looking from one to the other. Then the man pulled out a badge.

"NYPD, I need a phone."

The shocked owner shakily pointed to a pay phone beside the ice freezer. He put his hand into the pocket of his jeans and brought out a couple of quarters for the man to use.

"Thanks, man. The name's Danny, by the way."

"I'm Marco…"

Danny went over to use the phone, feeding it the quarters then dialing an all too familiar number. Marco looked over at the woman, who gave him a radiant smile, somehow still managing to look beautiful through the blood and dirt. In Danny's ear, the phone started ringing, and was picked up right on the second ring.

"Detective Taylor."

"Mac, it's Danny…"

"Danny! Where are you?"

"I'm at some…"

But Danny was cut off as gunshots rang out in the air. The man that had abducted them had caught up and was trying to pick up a screaming, punching, and kicking Stella.

"Stella!"

Danny took off running as the large man started to leave with Stella. He left the phone dangling off of the chord, and a terrified Marco behind the counter. From the phone's earpiece, quiet shouting could be heard:

"Danny! Stella! DANNY!"

**Author's Note: Don't hurt me. :D More to come! Ch. 5 is already written. There, the drama begins!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Do I have to?**

**Author's Note: Thank you, you wonderful reviewers! You're lucky because it's March Break for me plus I'm sick and don't have much to do. I'm probably one of the few (or only) FF authors that update twice daily. Just so you know, check in around 10am EST and 7-9pm EST until this Sunday. Then I'll have school, but I may be done by then.**

_1:30am, outside of Leigh's Gas Bar_

"LET GO OF ME!"

Danny followed the sound of Stella's furious shouts. He admired her for her persistence, even though the man showed no signs of slowing. Danny, with his sore feet and throbbing arm, struggled to keep up. He was irritated that he hadn't had the chance to tell Mac where they were. But he left the phone off the hook for a reason, maybe Marco would be smart enough to pick up the phone and tell Mac what had happened.

Thankfully, he was.

**CSI: NY**

Mac, Lindsay, and Flack all arrived at the gas bar exactly thirty minutes after the call. It was farther than Lindsay had thought. She hadn't expected that Danny would cover so much ground, especially since she heard that Stella would be slowing them down. They had passed the crash site, but Lindsay hadn't been able to look. The other CSIs had lights set up around the area, and Lindsay had caught a glimpse of the blood. She shuddered at the thought.

Marco, the owner of the place that had rushed to the abandoned phone the minute everyone had gone, came running out to meet them.

"Are you the cops? I have water, food, anything you guys need is on me! I can tell you everything that I saw…"

He kept on talking until Flack gave him a light but impatient whack on the back of the head. They all introduced themselves, Mac going last.

"You spoke to me on the phone," he added.

Marco nodded furiously. He launched into an explanation of what had gone on.

"And then this giant guy came in, picked up the woman, and Danny went running off after them."

Lindsay's breathing was quick and panicked. Danny had gone off after them. The man had a gun, and obviously only wanted Stella. He could get shot. Flack laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. He rubbed it lightly, visibly making Lindsay relax. She turned her head and gave him a curious look.

"Just somethin' my mom taught me once," he whispered, just as Marco stopped talking and Mac slipped on a pair of latex gloves. He moved over to a shelf with blood on it.

"Was the woman you saw here, Marco?"

"Yeah, she was."

Mac looked around. There was a little bit of blood spatter on the ground, consistent with this man trying to pick Stella up while she was struggling. Bags of chips looked like they'd been kicked off of the shelves.

Lindsay moved off to the phone. It, too, had blood on the receiver. It was a handprint. Lindsay looked around. Then she noticed something beside her. Danny had dropped the jacket he had been wearing.

Lindsay set down her kit and crouched next to the jacket. It was dirty, covered in broken glass, and one arm was torn open. Lindsay pulled on her own gloves and picked up the jacket. She tried not to hug it to her chest. She had never been so afraid to lose someone in her life. Danny meant everything to her.

She noticed a dark hair on the hem, almost blending in with the navy blue material. Poor Danny. It has been his favourite jacket. She grabbed a small plastic bag and a pair of tweezers. She placed the hair inside and sealed the bag. As far as evidence was concerned, there was nothing else there. She looked over to Mac. He was standing and talking to Flack.

"We should head back to the lab. We've got DNA and numbers to trace," Lindsay announced.

**CSI: NY**

_40 minutes later… back at the NYC Crime Lab_

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Lindsay searched CODIS again, but no database came up with any match for the DNA on the hair. She leaned against the counter and closed her eyes. Where are you, Danny?

She pursed her lips and tried to think of something else to go on. She'd heard from Mac: the text was sent from a disposable cell phone, long since thrown out. They'd found it in a garbage can not too far from the lab. This made Lindsay wonder: had this man been stalking Stella? From what they'd assumed so far, Danny was just along for the ride because he had been with Stella. She turned around, coming face to face with Hawkes.

"Hey, I know this going to sound a little… uncaring, but I'm going to go check out a couple other cases, okay?"

Lindsay stared at Hawkes. He wanted to go work on something else while Danny and Stella were missing?

"Before you say anything, I've got it cleared with Mac. I just wanted to let you know. I've got an idea, but it's a bit far-fetched."

Hawkes gave Lindsay an apologetic look.

"I just don't want to say anything else in case I'm wrong."

Leaving a puzzled Lindsay behind, Hawkes left.

**CSI: NY**

For the second time that night, Danny awoke from being hit over the head with his gun.

"Ugh, I'm not goin' to make this a habit…" he muttered, trying to sit up, only to find that he was already sitting up, tied to a chair. He blinked his spinning world back into focus, though it remained a bit blurry.

He looked around. They were no longer outside. It was quite the opposite actually. It was as hot in the room as it had been in the car. The room itself looked like… a guest bedroom? Not what Danny had been expecting. Apparently their abductor was hospitable to his victims. Danny struggled against whatever had him tied down. This time, the knot was much better.

"Stel?"

He said her name quietly, not sure he wanted to let their abductor know that he was awake yet again. He looked around for her, or at least a blurry mass of curls. But he received no reply and couldn't see her. Where was Stella?

Danny struggled a little bit. He looked for any possible exits: one window, pretty high up and small. He'd never fit through it. Then there were two doors. Danny blinked furiously, trying to see clearly. It worked. The door in front of him had a lock on it, but a door to his right didn't. He'd seen this in houses before. The door without the lock was normally connected to an adjacent room.

Then Danny remembered something… if he could just get his hand into his jeans pocket… he got it! A small pocketknife that he always carried with him in case of emergency. He painfully twisted his arm upward, flipping open the blade, and started slicing through the rope holding him. Once he felt the blade hit his now bare arms, he pulled it away and shrugged out of the rope. Danny felt a tiny trickle of blood fall down his arm. He ignored it.

He made his way to the door on the right, finding it unlocked, so he opened it. He gasped at what he saw.

Stella, lying unconscious on a frilly pink bed, dressed in the nightgown Danny had lost the day before. The man sat with his back to Danny, Stella's head in his arms, brushing her hair in gentle strokes. One stroke on each side, then another three strokes on each side of her hair. Danny watched the man rhythmically continue brushing with that pattern. With the same brush Danny knew Stella had lost. But they hadn't lost them after all: they were stolen.

Then the man spoke:

"I finally have you back, my little Allison."

**Author's Note: I know, I know, I ended on another cliffhanger. Ch. 6 is already written, though I need to go over that one... It was hard to write, and you'll see why. I needed to get the suspense _just_ right...** **Well, I'll leave it to you to review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: This is depressing...**

**Author's Note: As promised, the next chapter! Thank you, all you amazing reviewers! I'm honoured to have so many people also adding me/my story on their story favourites/alerts and author favourites/alerts! I'm glad you all like this. My chapters seem to be getting shorter, but I've got some longer ones coming up tomorrow.  
**

_2:15am, some house in NY_

Danny wasn't sure if he should feel sick or not. He knew Stella hadn't changed by herself. She would never wear evidence anyway. He stood in the doorway, his legs suddenly feeling weak.

Stella was changed and obviously washed. Her skin was pale and still covered in cuts and bruises, but no longer streaked with blood and grime. She looked far better compared to Danny, who hadn't had the privilege of getting washed up. Danny felt disgusted. Stella would fight back if she was awake, he knew it. He mentally willed her to wake up.

Danny wasn't sure what to do… Sticking out of the man's back pocket was a pocketknife, similar to Danny's own. Beside him on the bed was Danny's gun. Stella's lay beside it. If Danny would just get to one of the guns…

But he was too confused to move. He felt dazed, not quite awake. It was like when he woke up and wasn't sure if he was still dreaming or not. It was that place where everything was meshed together. Stupidly, he blurted out:

"Who the hell is Allison?"

The man turned slowly, a loving gaze turned to a concerned one.

"Don't you know, boy, that it's rude to come into a girl's room while she's sleeping? My Allison doesn't need to be woken up."

Danny glared at him.

"Her name's not Allison, it's Stella."

The man glared at him.

"You're telling me I don't know my own daughter?"

Danny nodded.

"Who the hell are you to tell me that Stella is your daughter? You just kidnapped her!"

"My name is Billy Donald and I wouldn't kidnap my own little girl. I'm keeping her safe!"

**CSI: NY**

"I got it!"

Hawkes triumphantly burst into Mac's office, interrupting a conversation between Mac and Lindsay. But he waved a folder in the air, grinning. He looked way too cheerful to be the same guy that had just lost two of his co-workers less than four hours ago. He tried to catch his breath, having just run up two flights of stairs from the ME's office. Who knew why, considering there was a perfectly good working elevator?

"What, Sheldon? What have you got?" Mac asked, sitting up straighter, and looking at the former ME closely.

"Well, it was a long shot, but I wondered if the missing evidence had anything to do with the abduction. I may be right. Turns out," Hawkes explained, opening his folder and pulling out two sheet of paper. They had the information on Erica Jones and Mandy Raymont, "that Erica and Mandy were both adopted, as we knew. But we may not have noticed this little fact before: they share the same birth father."

"What?" Lindsay looked confused at Hawkes' findings. "How does that have anything to do with the abduction?"

"I just found it odd that evidence went missing, then Danny and Stella go missing after. And it was their evidence. So, and I told you this was a long shot, I ran the DNA from the hair Lindsay found on Danny's jacket, comparing it to the two girls and," Hawkes paused to catch his breath, "it came up as a match. The unknown male donor is the father of Mandy and Erica: Billy Donald."

Lindsay had been leaning on the edge of her seat and holding her breath. She let out a happy cry and jumped up to hug Hawkes. She gave him a little kiss on the cheek. Mac stood and slapped Hawkes' shoulder.

"Good work, Sheldon. But why would this man abduct Stella and Danny along with, assuming he did it, taking evidence?"

Hawkes nodded.

"He did take the evidence. There was a print on the nightgown's bag, and the epithelial matched Billy's DNA. But I have no idea why he did it. I can do some searching though."

Mac nodded, and started for the door.

"Good. Sheldon, Lindsay, see what you can find. I'm going to go see if I can find an address for this guy."

**CSI: NY**

Danny cautiously took a step forward. The man, Billy, seemed close to hysterics. He wondered if he played along, he could reason with him. He wouldn't keep arguing with this guy if it were going to put Stella at risk, who was still in the guy's lap.

"Billy, how are you goin' to keep Ste- I mean, Allison safe? You lured her out and abducted her. That's a criminal offense."

Billy shook his head madly.

"No. No, I didn't! She came on her own! Allison came to me! I have to keep my little girl safe, just like her sisters."

Danny took another step forward. He kept talking, hoping to distract Billy. From what Danny could tell, the talking to himself in the car and now this just proved he was mentally disturbed.

"How did you keep your girls safe, Billy? I can keep Allison safe, y'know."

"No. You can't! Only I can! I kept Erica and Mandy safe. They'll always be little girls now. They're in a nice place…"

He trailed off and Danny stopped in his tracks. Erica and Mandy? _As in, Erica Jones, the murdered young girl in my case? And Mandy Raymont, Stella's girl?_ He eased forward.

"How did you keep your girls safe, Billy?"

"I… I…"

Billy seemed unable to answer. Danny inched forward again. He was so close. Just one more step…

"I killed them!"

With that, Billy turned and punched Danny, hard enough to shove him back and hit the wall. Danny slumped to the ground.

"I killed them so they'd stay little girls forever in Heaven…"

**CSI: NY**

Billy's eyes darted from side to side. What had he done? Had he really abducted someone? His breath quickened, as did his heartbeat, panicked and terrified.

_No, your Allison is safe now! She'll always be your little girl now._

The voice. The voice that told him what to do. It controlled his thoughts, his words, and his actions. Billy was helpless against it. Billy had had to listen to the voice since he was a little boy. It always made him do bad things… bad things like killing people and hurting them. He wanted it to stop, but he couldn't make that happen. He had no choice. He shuddered and tried to keep in tears. When the voice was in his head, he didn't know what was real and what was not. Reality was twisted, like a nightmare that he couldn't wake up from. But was reality twisted or was his reality just different from everybody else's?

_What is reality? You have no reason to be asking yourself these silly questions. You just do what I say._

"But I hurt that man…"

_The boy is useless to you. He'll only bring harm to Allison. Look what he's already done! That car crash could have killed all of you!_

Billy nodded, setting the brush down and stroking Allison's hair. What had the man called her? Stella? He had listened to the man's words. Could he be telling the truth? On the news, he had seen that the NYPD had caught two men who had killed his daughters. But they were wrong. Those men hadn't killed them…

_She's Allison. She always was. That boy is just one of those kids from school that little Ally told you was stalking her. You've done nothing wrong._

Billy nodded again. He knew what he'd have to do. Soon, Allison would be safe. And he'd do whatever it took to keep her safe in the meantime. The boy would die too.

Like he did with his other girls, Allison's sisters, Billy would wait for a day, spending some quality time with his daughter. After that, she'd be his little girl forever. No man could take her. No one.

He would kill her, just like her sisters. The voice in his head would force him to. It was the right thing to do.

She'd always be _Daddy's little girl…_

**Author's Note: Now you see where the title came from. This chapter was hard to write, because I had to write from Billy's perspective.** **But I've got chs. 7 & 8 written already. I'm on a roll! **

**By the way, I've noticed there's a few contests going on in the communities and forums. If you think this story is worthy, feel free to nominate it for anything. :D I'm just so proud to have such amazing reviews on my first CSI: NY fic.**

**Hugs,**

**Lim  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Still don't own anything.**

**Author's Note: And here is the seventh chapter of my story! More suspense, more things revealed, more to read! (Yes, it's longer.) Reviews will be appreciated, but you guys are already leaving such awesome reviews. And yes, poor Danny. But he's not even supposed to be there so Billy doesn't really have much else he can do (considering Danny's kind of pigheaded). I think I may be taking my anger on the car out on him though. You know how you try to get in or out of the car but you always end up hitting your head? I mean, what's that about?  
**

_9:00am, Mac's apartment_

He had returned to his apartment, hoping to get some sleep while Hawkes and Lindsay worked. That, as he expected, failed. He had attempted to lay down for a bit, but sleep would not take him and he was restless. Lindsay had practically forced him out of the lab, telling him to quit obsessing. At the time, though he was just being stubborn about leaving, sleep had been a nice idea. But when he actually got the chance, it evaded him. Mac sighed and went into his kitchen to search the fridge. He couldn't think of the last time he'd actually had a decent meal that wasn't from a vending machine or made on the run.

And then he noticed that his fridge was almost empty. He couldn't remember when was the last time he had done some serious grocery shopping that didn't involve just grabbing butter or something small. Mac needed Stella. This just reminded him more of why he needed her back. Who else would constantly nag him to look after himself properly?

He pulled out a bagel, some butter, and a sausage. Other than some pop and beer, Mac didn't really have much else. He mentally reminded himself that he should make a grocery list when all of this was over. He made himself a quick sandwich and then sat down at the kitchen counter to eat. He rarely ever sat down to eat. It made him even more restless.

He wondered what he could do from home. Almost seven hours had passed. They had figured out nothing about Billy Donald. He was anxious to get an answer to the many questions he had. He also didn't have any idea why this man would be interested in abducting Stella and Danny. Both of them had just solved cases about his daughters' deaths. Of course, that could all be coincidence. But Mac didn't believe in coincidences in his line of work.

He finished up his sandwich, finding himself hungrier than he thought. He stood, stretched, washed his dishes and put them away, then abandoned the thought of sleep. He grabbed his keys, cell, and jacket then left. A walk would do him some good, at least take his mind off of everything. Mac found that watching other people and trying to figure out what was going on in their lives made his mind a little calmer, setting aside the turmoil for at least a little while. He had spent a lot of time walking or jogging after Claire's death. He didn't want to revisit that dark place if Stella di- _no. Don't think like that._

Mac couldn't think of the worst. It depressed him too much. A hotdog stand stood a block away from his building, and Mac dug into his pockets for change. He had forgot his wallet on his couch. He managed to find the exact amount of change to buy a hotdog. He walked away, a little annoyed that he forgot his wallet. Stress was getting too him. He never forgot his wallet.

As he took a bite of his hotdog, he remembered the first time he had a case with Stella. They had stopped for hotdogs on the way. Stella, of course, had not been the one driving. Everyone knew she never stopped to eat when driving to a scene. Mac laughed out loud at the thought. He focused on thinking of the good times.

**CSI: NY**

"Linds, I found him."

Lindsay looked up from her laptop, on which she was typing madly at the table in the break room. She found it more comfortable in there than at Mac's desk, where she'd been working with him earlier. She vaguely wondered if he'd slept at all. Probably not… She wouldn't be able to either until Danny was found.

"Lindsay! You've got that glazed look in your eyes again."

Hawkes waved a hand and something else in her face. It was the third time that morning that Lindsay had been daydreaming. Sorry, not daydreaming- Lindsay preferred to call it 'thinking hard'. He sat down across from her, holding a folder in one hand and a half-eaten granola bar in the other. She guessed it was the folder that she'd seen flapping in front of her eyes.

"What have you got, Hawkes?"

"I looked Billy Donald and got nothing. But, knowing many people and quite a few passwords-" Lindsay raised an eyebrow but Hawkes just shrugged. "- I managed to pull up Billy's medical records. Something important came up."

Lindsay closed her laptop, having nothing of any importance on it. She rubbed her eyes then gave Hawkes a threatening glare. He was pausing for far too long in her opinion.

"He suffers from dementia and schizophrenia. Doctors wrote that he complained of a voice in his head telling him that he needed to kill someone. They never specified who or if there even was a 'who'. But we've gotta hurry."

Lindsay jumped up.

"You got an address?"

Hawkes nodded.

"And I've already phoned Mac, Angell, and Flack."

**CSI: NY**

Flack had begged Angell not to come, but she would not be persuaded to stay behind. She put up a fair argument about Danny and Stella being her friends too, so Flack gave in. Even as they drove out to pick up Mac (thankfully Flack had been at home and it wasn't out of his way) he was still trying to convince her otherwise.

"Jess, c'mon. I just don't want you to get hurt."

Angell stared out the window, looking for the store Mac said he was outside of. She didn't look at Flack, but her words hit Flack like one of her glares could.

"Don, before I met you, I was up to my waist in danger. I can take care of myself. You've gotta stop being such a worrywart."

Before Flack could answer, Angell pointed out a dark silhouette under an awning that she recognized as Mac. They pulled over, but Mac was in the car before it even stopped.

"Lindsay phoned. They got an address?"

Angell nodded, looking at Mac in the rear-view mirror.

"Apparently Hawkes called in some favours and knows a couple passwords he shouldn't."

Mac chuckled. He should have guessed that Hawkes would do something like that. But he was grateful. If being an ex-surgeon meant having access to medical databases that could break a case, then so be it. They had their lead. Now for it to be right…

The car wasn't moving fast enough for the three cops. And obviously traffic had to be at its worst. Flack slammed on the breaks a couple times to avoid being hit by frustrated drivers. Finally he got fed up.

"Mac, pass me my light, please."

Mac tossed it at him, and Flack plugged it in, turned it on along with his siren. He normally didn't use his police light when he was pissed at traffic, but now he needed it. Cars immediately started to move over for them. Some weren't too happy though. With his window rolled down, Flack heard swearing and a couple shouts of "You think you're so much better than everyone else!". But he ignored them and stomped on the gas pedal. Angell hung onto her seat, a little shocked by the sudden burst of speed, and Mac dialed Lindsay.

Hawkes picked up.

"Monroe's a little busy driving like the devil on drugs."

"How close are you?"

"Almost there. You?"

"We were just stuck in traffic but we fixed that… one second."

Mac asked Flack how long until they caught up with Lindsay and Hawkes.

"Five minutes."

"Five minutes," Mac relayed. Hawkes filled Mac in on their abductor's medical history. He stopped at the bit about the voice and had to regain himself. Mac could tell he was nervous.

"It was a pretty bad case, Mac. I wouldn't doubt him. He won't hesitate if he's told to kill. Apparently he attacked a couple nurses once. Said the voice told him too. Said they were bad people who would hurt him."

Mac shuddered. And Stella and Danny were with this guy.

"Hey, Mac, you were at the original crime scene with Stella on the Mandy Raymont case, right? Lindsay has a theory that this guy was stalking Stella. It just seems too… perfect. Too planned. She doesn't think Danny was meant to be there."

Mac nodded to himself. It made sense, considering the call was made pretty close to the crime lab. It was definitely a possibility.

"I was at the scene, yeah. Why, you got a pic of this guy for me?"

"I do. Sending now…"

Mac looked at the man: big, broadly built, with thin, graying blonde hair and green eyes. He had a sweet looking face, definitely not the killing type. He seemed like a perfectly friendly man from the picture… then Mac remembered him. He was friendly.

_"Hi, Detective?"_

_A tall man had come over, cutting Mac off from getting to the scene. He was smiling, but his smile was sad and concerned._

_"Can I help you, sir?" Mac had asked, stopping to let the man speak. He could have had some information. Or not._

_"I just wanted to know what happened. Is everything okay?"_

Mac looked the man in the eyes. Something behind them looked… well, Mac had not been quite able to place it. But it was odd.

_"I'm sorry, sir, but I was on my way to find out. All I know is that a girl was killed here. Now, if you'll let me get on with my job…"_

_The man jumped to the side, appearing to not want to get in Mac's way._

_"Yeah, of course, sure. Have a nice day, Detective."_

"It's never a nice day when an innocent person is killed," Mac had muttered. But he had to admit that the man seemed nice. He just worried about the look in his eyes.

"Yeah, I saw him. He came to talk to me," Mac explained to Hawkes. "He seemed okay. Something bothered me, but I guess I know why now. I saw him watching Stella later on, it looked as though he wanted to try to approach her as we were leaving but he couldn't get through the crowd."

Mac furrowed his brow. Flack and Angell watched him through the rear-view mirror, following what they could hear of the one-sided conversation.

"I guess your stalker theory was correct."

**CSI: NY**

Stella's eyelids fluttered open. The sight of hot pink walls, furniture, and sheets instantly gave her a headache. Certainly not the first thing she wanted to see when she woke up. She tried to sit up, but found her limbs unresponsive. Drugged again… _God, I hate this guy._ She swore quietly in Greek.

Slowly and difficultly, she rolled over onto her left side. She felt a sting of pain run up her left leg as she rolled over onto her broken ankle. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut until it subsided. When she opened her eyes, she saw Danny. But a sound distracted her. A knock.

Someone was knocking on the door.

"Mr Donald?"

**CSI: NY**

Flack managed to catch up with Hawkes and Lindsay just as they got to the house, just outside the city. They, along with several other cops for back up, approached the door. A cop went up and knocked.

"Mr Donald?"

**CSI: NY**

Stella didn't hear anyone go to open the door. The voice called in again:

"Mr Donald, open up!"

**CSI: NY**

They stood outside in suspense. No one answered the door.

"Mr Donald, open up!"

Still no answer. Flack nodded at the cops, and he, Angell, and the CSIs all pulled out their guns. On Flack's signal, they used a battering ram to break down the door. It collapsed with a bang.

Mac and Lindsay ran inside.

**Author's Note: Not much to say here but: Dun dun dun DUN~~~~! And what happens next? Ch. 8, up tonight, as promised.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Nope, tried writing to Jerry, but I just can't have in on the action!**

**Author's Note: And now, the answer to the latest question: have they been found? is here! Now, the real drama and suspense begins! Yes, the first seven chapters were just the appetizer to this meal! Just going to add, that I am nice. There will be some cute fluff coming up soon involving giant teddy bears and mushed carrots.  
**

_They stood outside in suspense. No one answered the door._

_"Mr Donald, open up!"_

_Still no answer. Flack nodded at the cops, and he, Angell, and the CSIs all pulled out their guns. On Flack's signal, they used a battering ram to break down the door. It collapsed with a bang._

_Mac and Lindsay ran inside._

The house was dark and empty. It was a fake address.

**CSI: NY**

Stella listened for the footsteps. The man made his way to the door. She heard the creak of it opening on rusty hinges. The man's calm voice greeted the person at the door. She heard someone mutter something about Chinese food. At the mention of food, Stella's stomach grumbled. God, was she ever hungry. But she was still tired.

She sighed, putting her head down again. No one was here to save them. She had to admit, she had her hopes up when she heard the knocking on the door. Now she was exhausted from the effort of staying awake and the last few days of being up, working nonstop. A little sleep couldn't hurt…

Sleep and disappointment overtook her again.

**CSI: NY**

"Wake up. Wake up, Allison!"

Stella moaned and tried to roll over again. The voice was bothering her. She didn't want to wake up. It was the first time in ages she'd been able to sleep properly. She didn't want to have to get up and go to work… Then she remembered and her eyes flew open.

The man stood over her, hand still on her shoulder. His eyes contained a loving gaze that repulsed her. She wanted to scream, but the man covered her lips before they even parted. His hand smelled of lavender soap. She wrinkled her nose. The sudden strong smell made her nauseous. Probably a side effect of whatever he had made her drink when they had still been fleeing the gas bar.

She glared daggers at him. He brushed his free hand through her hair. His other hand relaxed on her lips, and Stella took her chance and bit him- hard. He yelped and jumped away.

"Allison!"

Who was…? She heard Danny stirring over by the wall. He looked odd with the bright pink background behind him. He muttered quietly…

"Montana… no, no more cake…"

Stella snorted and the man growled deep in his throat. It sounded almost feral. He pulled Stella over so she'd face him.

"Why'd you bite me, Allison? Why would you hurt your own father?"

Stella was confused.

"Who's-"

"Allison? Why do you people keep asking me that? You're my daughter! You never drowned on that fishing trip like those idiot cops told me! You're alive and right here! I saw you at that crime scene, where your sister Mandy was! You're. My. Daughter!"

Stella shook. He was scaring her. He went from caring to livid. She didn't know who Allison was… or how Mandy Raymont was her sister, but she knew this man meant business. He was also crazy.

"The voice! The voice made me do it…"

She had no idea what he was talking about. Stella found that she could move again, so she rolled as far away from him as possible. She slowly lowered herself to the floor so she could get to Danny. The man was busy talking to himself and hadn't noticed.

"Danny! Danny!" Stella hissed, slapping her palm against his cheek. Danny blinked down at her, being sitting up straighter than he was then suddenly came to his senses.

"Stel, oh god, you okay?"

"Yeah, Danny, but what's going on? He saw me at my crime scene and he thinks-"

"You're Allison, right? Yeah, he thinks you're his daughter."

"His dead daughter apparently."

Danny risked a glance at Billy. He was clutching at his head and muttering. Danny tried to fill in Stella on everything he'd found out.

"He killed those two girls, Erica Jones and Mandy Raymont. They're his daughters. He's nuts, he seems to believe that killin' his daughters is the only way to keep them safe or somethin'…"

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HER?"

The shout forced Stella and Danny apart, both staring in shock at Billy. He came running at them. Stella, normally armed with some smart-mouthed comment just ducked, and Danny tried to scramble away. But Billy was faster and threw a punch at Danny's jaw.

"You stay away from my daughter!"

Danny laughed.

"Your daughter, Billy? I'm pretty sure I can speak for her here and say that Stella would not wanna be your daughter."

Danny smirked and dodged another punch. He threw a couple insults at Billy, infuriating him even more. Stella let out a little squeak of fear as Billy clobbered Danny.

"Leave him alone!"

The scream was out before she knew it. Billy turned on Stella, eyes on fire. She cringed. His hand came dangerously close to her face.

"Don't hurt him…"

"You shut up!"

His hand came across her face, leaving it throbbing and Stella felt a little trickle of blood escape from the corner of her mouth. She whimpered but stood her ground. She knew how to reach this guy.

"Daddy…"

The one word calmed him. Billy, who had turned back to punch Danny again, regained the loving look.

"I just want to keep you safe, my little Allison."

**CSI: NY**

_9:00pm, NYC Crime Lab_

Almost eleven hours later, they had nothing. They'd put out notices on the news, and posters, and asked people on the street if they'd seen Billy Donald. They'd shown people pictures, but no one had seen him. Hawkes, Lindsay, Angell, Flack, and Mac all sat in Mac's office. They were close to defeat, though none wanted to admit it.

"We have nothing… it was a fake address, a fake number… NOTHING!"

Flack slammed his fist down on Mac's desk, causing everyone to jump. He hated feeling helpless. As he and Angell had been told, there was no evidence, nothing to lead them to Stella and Danny. He swore quietly. He couldn't imagine how much worse it would be if it were Angell out there rather than Stella or Danny.

Lindsay wasn't fazed by Flack's outburst. She was in her own little dark mood. She was furious that they hadn't found Danny. She didn't want to admit defeat.

Then the phone rang. Mac put it on the speaker. They heard three words:

"PUT THAT DOWN!"

Then they heard the gunshot and the scream.

**CSI: NY**

_Two minutes earlier…_

Stella tried to keep Billy busy. Hopefully the team would find them. But Danny's words were sinking in. This man would kill her. He wanted to keep Allison safe. And he thought she was Allison. She let him feed her some nasty tasting fake Chinese food, and she let him brush her hair. He acted like she was a little girl, putting on little shows with stuffed animals on the bed. He even hosted a make believe tea party. Throughout the whole thing, Danny sat by his wall, looking more disgusted by the minute.

Stella also knew it was getting late. Through the window, she saw the sunset, and it slowly get darker. They'd been at this for hours. Billy didn't seem to get agitated or violent. He just treated Stella as if she were really his daughter.

She was running out of ideas. All afternoon, she'd been trying to think of ways to escape. But nothing seemed to come up. They didn't even know where they were! Out of the corner of her eye, while pouring herself more imaginary tea, she saw Danny moving. Billy hadn't noticed.

Danny moved closer to the bedside table. Stella saw what he was after: a cordless phone. He was moving slowly enough to make Stella anxious, but she knew he couldn't let Billy see him. She watched him grab it, dial the number, then press what she assumed was 'talk'. But then Billy noticed.

The 'talk' button beeped.

At the other end of the line, Mac had picked up, but Danny didn't get the chance to talk. Billy was up on his feet, gun in hand when he heard the beep.

"PUT THAT DOWN!"

Billy shot Danny, who fell to the floor, clutching his stomach, and Stella screamed.

**CSI: NY**

Lindsay let out a terrified shriek. She started panicking and then babbling, Angell and Hawkes running over to comport her. Mac had turned as white as a sheet. Who had been shot? Flack was at his side in an instant. He was about to say something soothing to his friend but he heard something.

"Everyone shut up. The phone's still on!"

Flack said this quietly but forcefully. He sent a pointed look in Hawkes' direction. He ran off to trace the call.

Everyone crowded around the phone. They heard Stella's voice in hysterics, calling Danny's name. Mac's chest tightened. He glanced over at Lindsay, looking as though she was torn between listening and going into hysterics herself. Their eyes could not be torn away from that little red light indicating that the speaker was on and the connection still there.

"Danny! Danny! Answer me, Danny!"

Silence on both ends.

"Stella…"

Danny's voice. They all gasped. He was alive. Just then, Hawkes ran in, his face caught in a cross between a grin and a dead serious expression.

"We got him! We know where they are!

Everyone ran for the door, save Angell and Hawkes who offered to stay by the phone.

**CSI: NY**

"Would you for once just let someone in and stop being so damn stubborn?"

He didn't want those to be some of the last words ever spoken to the woman he loved. Please, Stella, please be all right, he thought, running a hand through freshly trimmed dark hair. Their latest argument from a few days previously was fresh in his mind. Even though they were on speaking terms, nothing was quite the same.

It seemed as though time had purposely slowed down for Mac Taylor as he sat in the passenger side seat of Lindsay's jeep, the young woman driving as fast as she could. She followed the police cars with their blaring sirens, eyes not straying from the road, lips pursed in a thin, stressed line. Mac had plenty of time to think, and all that came to his mind was what would he do without her?

Even though he tried not to think of the worst, Mac Taylor would never be able to survive without Stella Bonasera.

Beside him, Lindsay Monroe's eyes never left the flashing lights in front of her. They guided her like a beacon, a beacon that would soon lead them to Danny. Butterflies didn't flutter in her stomach; it was as if they were viciously attacking it. Lindsay felt as though she would puke if their lead was a dead end, but she kept driving to keep herself from breaking down, and from Mac punching a hole through the windshield. She saw his knuckles getting whiter by the second.

At times like these, Lindsay needed Danny Messer.

Both Mac and Lindsay hoped that they'd be able to see their friends again by the end of the night. Under the bright stars, probably a cheerful sight to anyone else and unusual in the lit up city, they raced against time to find their friends. But inwardly, Mac and Lindsay knew that they would never be able to look at the stars the same way again if they couldn't find Stella and Danny.

Then they finally got to the house they were looking for.

**CSI: NY**

Stella heard the front door come crashing down. Shouts of "NYPD!" filled the house. They were found. She almost collapsed in relief, but Billy caught her, holding her up by her curls, gun jabbing into her chest.

"I can keep you safe, Allison. They won't hurt you!"

"Let me go! WE'RE IN HERE!"

"SHUT UP!"

Billy hit her in the chest with the gun, knocking the air out of her lungs. Stella gasped as the room spun in front of her. Then the bedroom door came crashing down. Stella saw Lindsay go running to Danny, who was struggling to stand. Lindsay helped him to get up. Cops came running in, surrounding Billy. Stella shook in Billy's grasp.

"Let her go, Billy," Flack said, pointing his gun at Billy. Stella looked past him, and saw Mac, watching in horror. Tears streaked her face, and more came pouring down. But Billy was smart. He knew the cops wouldn't shoot him. They'd risk shooting his Allison.

"Let her go," he repeated.

"You'll never take Allison from me. The voice is right this time. You'll hurt her!"

Shots were fired.

Stella dropped to the ground, a single bullet hole just above her heart. Billy dropped to the ground behind her, moaning. Somehow they'd managed to avoid killing him.

Danny who'd been leaning on Lindsay, let out a small, "no" then collapsed.

Time seemed to slow down, as Flack went to put handcuffs of Billy Donald, Lindsay fell to her knees beside Danny, and Mac raced to Stella's side. Lindsay looked up at Mac.

"They're both dead," he whispered.

**Author's Note: Now, gotta run before someone eats me! -runs away screaming like a little girl-**

**I'm a sadist, I know, but after this chapter it'll all get better. Not that the drama and the fluff won't stop! You've still got three chapters before this is over (which I've finished writing and only have to post).  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Do you honestly think the writers would let me do this???**

**Author's Note: I'm back. I won't leave you hanging for long. Makes me feel guilty. :P Now a sad- and cute- chapter! But it's not done yet (no, I'm not going to be evil again... well, maybe just a little).  
**

Dead. The word seemed to like bouncing off the walls of his mind, taunting him and threatening to overwhelm him. It was trying to tear Mac apart from the inside, like some evil disease. Tears formed in his eyes, and though he didn't want them to fall, they did. Mac thought about the nasty words he had thought about in the car. The ones he had said to Stella.

Let someone in… He hadn't been fair to her. He couldn't even remember what the petty fight had been about, but they had both said some mean-spirited things. But how could she let someone in if he wasn't even willing to let her in? Mac couldn't hold in the sobs that clawed their way up his throat. His tears fell down, mingling with Stella's own, on her already tear-streaked face.

Lindsay had snapped out of her own daze first. A memory of when she told Danny about her first ever-swimming lesson (oh, the horror of it) had triggered a thought. She knew CPR. Though she'd never practiced on a real person, her hands and mouth knew what to do. Silently, in her head she counted. She counted all the adoring gazes she'd thrown at him, how many times she'd dreamt of kissing him, how many times Danny had called her Montana… She counted anything. She counted all the reasons she wanted- needed- him to live.

She, Lindsay Monroe, loved Danny Messer. And she told him that. She said it out loud- once, twice, three times. She kept saying it, hoping Danny would hear her. He had to.

On the other side of the room, Mac had noticed what Lindsay was doing. He followed her lead, feeding his little breaths into Stella, willing them to stay down and that he wouldn't have to feel his breath come straight back up. He kept count by listening to Lindsay's steady mantra of "I damn love you, Danny Messer".

Leave it to Lindsay to swear when proclaiming her love to someone.

Time was painfully slow, and both Mac and Lindsay felt as if their own hearts would stop if they had to wait, praying to God that Stella and Danny would be okay. It was almost too much to bear, until Lindsay let out a cry.

Under her hands, she felt a weak heartbeat slowly strengthen. A strangled, choking, gasp for air managed to escape Danny's lips. When he opened his eyes, he stared straight into the face of an angel.

His angel.

"…Mon…ta…na…" he managed to croak.

Lindsay smothered him with a hug that almost caused him to stop breathing again and covered his face with kisses.

"Don't… you… ever… do… that… to me… again!" she threatened between kisses. Danny weakly raised his hands to pull Lindsay's mouth to his. Her kisses had been avoiding his mouth, but he kissed her as if he was going to die again.

Thankfully, he didn't.

Mac watched the passionate moment across from him. But Stella was seeping away beneath him. Mac knew she was gone. He let out one final, anguished cry before he closed her eyes and hugged her limp body to his, kissing her forehead.

He hoped she could forgive him for everything he had done wrong and everything right that he hadn't done yet… Except for one thing he had to do now:

"I love you, Stella."

**CSI: NY**

Stella wasn't aware of where she was. She didn't really care. She was comfortable. She had left her world in pain and woke up in this one feeling as if no pain of any kind had ever reached her. She was immune here.

Her eyes looked through the misty place, searching for… well, she wasn't sure what she was searching for. But she felt at peace, and that was good.

She couldn't remember any pain, only the good things. Mac was the first person that came to mind. His smile, how he always knew what to say, his charm, the fact he saved his city over and over again…

"Stella."

Stella spun around to face the voice. There was a crowd of people there, and she realized she knew all of them. Frankie, Drew, all the people she'd seen and solved cases about. All the dead people she'd ever been associated with. Did that mean she too was dead?

Two people at the front of the group confused her though. She didn't recognize them. Something seemed… familiar about them, as though they'd met before, but she couldn't remember them.

The woman was tall, perfect as a model, with long dark curls, and sparkling green eyes. The man was shorter, plump, with a huge smile that would make any pain go away with a single look if Stella had any. He too had dark hair, but bright blue eyes. Somehow, without being told, Stella knew who they were.

"Mom, Dad…"

Tears came to her eyes, but she could not cry. She just rushed up to embrace the parents she had never met. They hugged her back, still beaming. Stella knew everything was right. She'd spent all of her life believing she'd meet her parents some day, and now she had. They had always been watching her.

"Stella, you don't belong here."

Stella blinked up at her parents, who seemed to hover off the ground a little beside her. She was confused. How could she not belong here, with her parents? She was with the people she loved the most.

It was as if her parents had read her mind when they spoke again:

"No, you're not. There's someone you love more than us. You've left him behind."

Stella pulled away from her parents' embrace. She backed away a little. She was so happy. She couldn't really remember it, but the world she'd left behind had caused her pain. Lots of it, physically and emotionally. Here, all that pain was erased.

"He's already suffered enough. He lost his wife, he can't lose you too."

Stella shook her head. Mac didn't love her. He loved Claire. Stella was just a friend, no matter what she thought. She turned her back to her parents, only to see someone she'd only seen in pictures.

Claire Taylor.

The beautiful woman was everything Mac had ever described her to be. She pulled Stella into a friendly embrace. Stella awkwardly returned it, not sure how to feel in the presence of Mac's dead wife.

"Stella, I've heard so much about you."

Claire beamed, and Stella found that she had regained her voice though she wasn't sure what to say. Her parents had floated over to stand behind Claire.

"Mac used to talk to my picture a lot," Claire explained quietly and Stella vaguely thought her voice sounded like music, "and he told me a lot about you. I know you helped him cope after the towers fell. I know how good a friend you've been. I also know that Mac loves you very much."

Stella looked at her feet, suddenly feeling very small.

"But he doesn't love me the way he loves you."

Claire shook her head and placed a hand on Stella's shoulder.

"No, you're wrong. He'll always love me, but he loves you more now that he'd moved on. He's just afraid he'll lose me forever if he loves you too much."

Claire smiled and pulled Stella's head up to look at her. Her eyes told the truth.

"But he has to learn to forgive himself, and you can help him. Listen."

Something tugged at Stella's mind. She felt that she was no longer just with her parents and Claire; she was back where she had come from. She was back with Mac.

"I love you, Stella."

Stella felt tears form in her eyes again. He'd never said that before.

"You see?" asked Claire, stepping back to stand in between Stella's parents. "You have to go back and help him."

Stella nodded. Claire grinned.

"I'm glad to have finally met you, Stella. But I don't regret dying. You and Mac are obviously meant to be together."

Stella knew that Claire only spoke the truth. Claire had had her chance, but her destiny had not been meant to stay with Mac. She'd moved on to make room for Stella.

"Tell Mac that I approve of his decision, and that your parents are taking very good care of me."

Stella wanted to go hug them all again, but the misty world suddenly started spinning.

Next thing she knew, her face was buried in Mac's chest. She could feel his sobs. She squirmed to move, not having enough room to even open her eyes. She felt Mac gasp and release his death grip on her.

"Stella?"

She took a large gulp of air before answering:

"Sheesh, Mac, you could've killed me, hugging me so tight."

Mac laughed, and hugged Stella to his chest again, whispering, "It's a miracle!" before the paramedics came to steal her and Danny away. They shooed Lindsay and Mac away, complaining that that ambulance would be too full, so they had to settle for Flack driving them to Angel of Mercy.

**CSI: NY**

_Almost a week later..._

Stella hated hospitals with a passion. Their itchy sheets always ended up giving her a rash, and their food tasted like crap. Plus, they always made her stay for way too long.

"I'm a big girl. Can't you just let me out… oh say, a week early?" she'd pleaded with a nurse, Hannah, who she'd become particularly fond of. Hannah, of course, said she'd check with the doctor. That meant 'no'.

Mac and the team had come to bother her and Danny several times in the past two weeks. Lindsay said she was spoiling Stella more, buying chocolate and flowers, and a giant stuffed teddy bear that said 'I (heart) Stella' on its tummy, but Stella knew that Lindsay was planning on spoiling Danny after they managed to escape from the hospital.

Mac was, as he had been constantly, sitting at Stella's bedside when she woke up on a sunny Tuesday afternoon.

"You brought work to me for a change, right?" she asked, startling Mac, almost causing him to fall out of his chair. He frowned down at her.

"Not likely."

"Not even paperwork?"

"You hate paperwork."

Stella stuck her tongue out. She felt a lot more secure around Mac now that she knew what Claire knew.

"But staring at walls is worse."

"Point taken."

She'd told Hannah about her experience, who had merely brushed it off as one of those weird near-death things that happened to people. Stella had argued a little. It had seemed so real that she'd convinced herself that it was.

In her mind, that was all that mattered.

**CSI: NY**

Lindsay sat on the edge of Danny's bed, feeding him mushed carrots off of a spoon. He had been excited that he could finally eat semi-solid food around the bullet hole in his stomach until he'd seen the stuff. Now he was utterly repulsed.

"No, no more, Montana. Don't force me to eat that stuff," he complained. Lindsay just laughed at him.

"Shut up and eat it or you'll have to stay here longer for malnutrition."

That convinced Danny to force down one more spoonful. He looked slightly green by the time Lindsay had managed to get him to finish the bowl, threat by threat.

"Y'know, you're evil, Montana, but I love you."

"I love you too, Danny, though you are never allowed to scare me like that again or I'll order take-out mushed carrots from the hospital for you."

Danny moaned.

"Not more of those things!"

They really were _that_ bad.

**CSI: NY**

Flack sat across from Billy Donald in the interrogation room. Billy was quivering slightly. Flack, normally, would have felt bad for the man, but this time didn't. Not after he'd killed both Danny and Stella. He'd been so relieved when he found out that they were both going to be okay. They hadn't had a chance to really find out from Billy what went on there, considering Danny couldn't remember, and Stella wouldn't. Mac knew she could, but she hadn't been too willing to talk about it. Flack wanted so bad to lock this guy up for good, but he had to wait for Mac to come back from the hospital and Angell to come in to work.

"What's going to happen to me?"

Flack glared at Billy.

"Just shut up and wait for my partner and Mac to come and then you'll find out."

**Author's Note: You didn't think I'd leave my two favourite characters dead, did you? Now that would just be mean after everything they've gone through. One more chapter, where you'll see Billy come to justice and Mac make friends with a couple wrongly accused criminals. Plus a little surprise at the end you may not see coming. Then the epilogue, where all will be revealed in the lovey-dovey conclusion to this story! So trust me, there's still more to come.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Still not mine as much as I love it.**

**Author's Note: The final chapter before the epilogue. Things get summed up here. Fairly short.  
**

_11:26am, the NYPD interrogation room_

"So, why'd you stalk and kidnap Stella? And why Danny?"

Flack had been briefed on most of the stuff they knew for sure. Billy had sent the fake text to Stella, who'd gone to get Hawkes and Danny. He'd most definitely stolen the evidence, which Stella had been wearing when they'd gotten to the house. He'd confessed to killing Mandy Raymont and Erica Jones and framing two innocent men. Flack would need him to repeat that in front of Angell and Mac though to have witnesses.

Billy had been to the hospital, and apparently he had been neglecting his medication. They'd put him on some new stuff, strong enough that Billy said he hadn't heard the voice for two weeks now. He'd been scared to come in to talk to Flack, but proud at the same time because he could answer all the questions honestly. Flack had been impressed with him. He almost wasn't the same idiot who had shot two cops.

Billy stayed silent,

"C'mon, Billy, just tell them what you told me earlier. You did good, very good, so just do it again, a'ight?"

Billy nodded, not wanting to make eye contact with Mac. The memories were fuzzy, but he knew Mac had been at the crime scene and had been there at the house with Stella. Not Allison Donald, Stella Bonasera.

"The voice was telling me, at that crime scene for Mandy, that your Ms Bonasera was my daughter Allison. But… she died a long time ago. But not at my hand."

Flack nodded. He stepped around Billy to stand in front of him, beside Mac. He gave Billy an approving look. Although this wasn't entirely true, he had told Billy that he could say whatever he needed to, that no one was judging him. Sure, he was a killer, but he could plead insanity in court.

"So you lured them out to the house. How were you planning on getting to Stella?"

"I have a friend that works at a coffee shop on the way. He drugged her coffee. It was supposed to impair her judgment, so I could lure her into the house. I knew she was smart enough not to go in the house alone, but this would change that. Curiosity would get the better of her."

Mac let out a noise similar to a strangled duck. Flack elbowed him, as Billy's expression got stony. They needed him to talk. Flack gestured for Billy to continue.

"But I wasn't expecting the other detective, Messer. But I couldn't just leave him. The voice told me that I could just bring him along then dispose of him. Listen- I would never have done any of this if it wasn't for-"

Flack cut him off.

"I know, but we need the whole story."

Billy sighed.

"Then Messer wrapped my car around a tree… I almost didn't catch up. I didn't want to but the voice made me go on. I found them in that gas bar."

Mac stiffened. He never wanted to be on either end of a phone call like that. He had been terrified when he'd heard Stella screaming, and Danny shouting after her. He didn't want to listen to Billy anymore, but he knew he had to. Lindsay had refused to come.

Billy explained the rest, not in complete detail because the medication had messed up his memory, but straight up until the point he had shot Stella. He shook with sobs with the realization of what he had done sinking in. He held his head in his hands but managed to choke out four words.

"I killed… them… all…"

"Who? Who did you kill?" Flack demanded, ready to get his confession in front of witnesses. He already had Billy write it down. He was guilty, and he knew it.

"I killed Erica Jones, Mandy Raymont, and Stella Bonasera."

Flack let out a sigh of relief. Even though Stella was okay, she would still be counted as dead when they pressed charges. She had been legally proclaimed dead before _somehow_ she woke up. Angell, who'd been silent, turned on her heel and left. She returned with a couple more cops. Mac turned to them.

"Take him away."

Finally, justice would be served.

**CSI: NY**

Mac stood outside the prison gates, waiting for the two men that were approaching. They were young, happy, and running around and play fighting with each other, celebrating the joy of being free. Mac met them at the gate, opening it for them.

"Detective Taylor," said the taller of the two men. Mac remembered him well. A stubborn, smart-mouth that Mac had actually admired the tiniest bit. He hadn't seemed like the sloppy kind.

"Theodore." Mac extended his hand out and Theodore shook it, grinning.

"So you were wrong about me," he joked, and they started walking out toward the parking lot, where Mac had parked his truck.

"We were. And Detectives Messer and Monroe were wrong about…" Mac looked over at the shorter, younger man.

"James Reid."

Mac and James shook hands as well. Mac walked in silence. In one part of his mind, his pride was wounded, that the lab had messed up twice. In the other part, he was glad to be in the company of two good men, wrongly accused but set free. They would be happy now.

They made it to Mac's car, and they said their goodbyes. The two men turned to leave, but Mac thought of something.

"You need a ride anywhere?"

Theodore and James grinned again.

"You cops ain't all so bad, then!"

**CSI: NY**

And that was that. Justice was served, two innocent men set free, Stella and Danny found and alive. Lindsay and Danny were back to obsessively pining after each other in the lab, Flack was back to dating Angell when he was supposed to be working.

And Mac was back to trying to find the perfect way to tell Stella he loved her. He wasn't aware that Stella had heard him back at Billy's house.

**Author's Note: One more chapter to go!**


	11. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: 11 chapters later and I'm still writing this. I think we get the point!**

**Author's Note: And now, the conclusion! There's not going to be any note at the end of this so I'll say what I have to say now. I can't believe I finished writing this in only four days! This turned out well for my first ever CSI: NY fic.  
**

**HUGE thank yous go out to all you AMAZING reviewers and readers, who have put up with my cliffhangers and hung on until the end and took the time to read/review even if you were irritated with me. I hope you'll do the same for my other work. :D *HUGS***

**When you're done, check out **_The Calm Before the Storm_** and **_Coffee Stains & Rain_**if you like.  
**

_Two months later…_

Danny got out of the shower, tripping over the bath mat, almost dropping his towel, freezing as he left the comfort of the hot water, and looked at the clock to see he was late for work. And just when he thought he had finally gotten rid of that stupid headache that Billy had given him (that had lasted for an irritatingly long time), he fell and went crashing straight into the bathroom door.

From the floor, he swore loudly. Giggles came from outside the door.

"Oh, you laugh now, Montana!"

He finished up in the bathroom, walking out, with only a towel around his waist, straight into Lindsay's open arms. He planted a kiss on her lips, her hand tangled in his wet hair.

He pulled away for long enough to ask:

"Do you want some breakfast? Eggs, pancakes, toast?"

Lindsay laughed quietly.

"Aren't you late?"

"Mac can live without me for a little while."

He led Lindsay into his kitchen. She'd spent almost the last month and a half in his apartment. She sat down at the kitchen counter. Her head rested on her arms. Danny came over to massager her shoulders.

"You okay, Montana?"

Lindsay raised her head and spun on the stool to hug Danny again. He placed another kiss on her lips.

"I'm more than okay, Danny, I'm pregnant."

Danny almost fell over for a second time that morning.

**CSI: NY**

Flack sat with Angell in a coffee shop, watching her nibble on a bagel. He stared at her. He watched the way she took two tiny bites, chewed exactly eight times then swallowed; the way a long lock of hair had to be pushed out of her face every couple of minutes; the way her eyes were focused on the case folder in front of her; the way she was looking up at him with a questioning… oh, she was looking at him!

"What?" she asked, again pushing said lock of hair behind her ear.

"Nothin'…" Flack murmured. Then he thought of something. It wasn't nothing. He placed his hand on top of hers.

"After all that's happened, I don't think I ever want to face losin' you. And this time is as good as any: I need you with me, Jess."

Angell laughed.

"I need you too, but what brought this on?"

Flack laughed as well.

"Well, Linds, Danny, Mac, and Stel are all getting' their happy endin' to this chapter of our lives. Why shouldn't we?"

"Mac and Stella? You sure?"

"Well, Mac'll stop being a chicken eventually with the little trick I have planned for them…"

**CSI: NY**

Mac sat at his desk, the bright sunlight streaming through his window, casting a warm glow on his back. His eyes were closed, enjoying the feeling even though he was supposed to be doing paperwork and trying to fix his yet again malfunctioning computer.

He heard a soft knock on the glass door, causing him to jump. The door squeaked and the click of heels on tile announced Stella approaching him. Mac could tell without turning around that it was her- she still walking with a tiny limp that the doctors said would wear off after she walked if off.

He spun around in his chair.

"You wanted to see me?" Stella asked, giving him a curious glance.

Mac frowned.

"No, I didn't… wait- that didn't come out right. I mean… I didn't call…"

Stella came to sit on the edge of his desk. Two months later, you couldn't even tell that she'd been kidnapped by a lunatic or been in a car that got wrapped around a tree.

"I got a message from Flack saying…"

She trailed off and laughed. Her laughing: a sound to wonderful to Mac's ears. But he didn't get the joke until…

"Damn Flack," he growled. Flack had set him up. He looked down at his desk.

"You've been hiding something from me since… since you found us."

Stella hit a nerve. Mac had no idea how to tell her. Somehow, it just wouldn't come out again. He hated that the only time he'd been able to tell Stella the truth was when she was dead. She'd somehow cheated death and now he couldn't tell her. He silently fumed until Stella planted a kiss on his lips.

"Relax, Mac. Claire approves, and she knows that you've moved on. She's okay with that."

Mac was flustered. He looked up and tried to speak but Stella placed a finger over his lips, keeping them closed.

"I love you too, silly."

And then she left, leaving behind a very confused but happy Mac.

With new found motivation, he tackled his computer problem. He was almost into the system preferences...

And then the power went out. Mac sighed. He and Stella may have a mutual love, but he and his computer didn't.

Some things would never change.

**Fin.**


End file.
